US 5,577,807 A · Adjustable chair actuator

Abstract

An adjustable chair includes a base, a back support, a control on the base, a seat positioned on the control and an actuator housing supported on the base. The control mounts the back for tilting movement between a fully upright position and reclined position. A seat is pivoted to the base at a front end. The seat is also connected to the base by a plurality of locking plates. The chair includes a back stop subassembly, a back or seat tension subassembly, a seat tilt subassembly and a seat depth subassembly. The actuator housing is an elongated, tubular member having concentrically mounted controls or actuators at each end. At one end of the actuator, a rotatable actuator controls back tilt tension and a concentrically mounted, push button actuator controls the back tilt or stop position. At the opposite end of the actuator housing, a rotatable actuator controls seat tilt position and a concentrically mounted pivotal lever or button controls positioning of the seat to adjust the depth through the depth subassembly.

Claims31

Dependent claims

An adjustable chair subassembly, comprising:

a base;
a back support;
a control on the base connecting the back support to the base;
a seat positioned on said control;
an elongated, tubular actuator housing supported on said base, said actuator housing extending transversely of the seat and wherein said housing defines ends;
a first actuator mounted at one end of said housing;
and
a second actuator mounted at said one end of said housing, said first actuator being generally concentric with said second actuator, said actuator housing being dimensioned so that said first and second actuators are positioned to be conveniently viewed and used by a seated user of the chair subassembly, said second actuator including a push button slidably mounted in said one end of said actuator housing.

5 more elements

An adjustable chair subassembly, comprising:

a base;
a back support;
a control on the base connecting the back support to the base;
a seat positioned on said control;
an actuator housing supported on said base, said actuator housing defining ends;
a first actuator movably mounted at one end of said housing;
a second actuator mounted at said one end of said housing, said second actuator being adjacent to said first actuator, said actuator housing extending transversely of the seat with said one end at a point adjacent a lateral edge of said seat so that said first and second actuators are positioned to be viewed by a seated user of the chair subassembly, said first actuator being a rotating knob rotatably mounted on said one end of said actuator housing and generally concentric with said second actuator, said second actuator being a push button slidably mounted in said one end of said actuator housing;
and
wherein said back support is pivoted to said control so that said back support may tilt from an upright position to a reclined position and said subassembly further comprises a torsional energy storage device for resiliently biasing said back support to the upright position.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Adjustable chair actuator

Life of this patent

Adjustable chair actuator

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims31